The Credit Union Masquerade...

     ... Two-faced?

Hope you took a look at the new Lending Hope Initiative, featured in yesterday's post. [link].  The Initiative has few peers in the power and clarity of its' mission and messaging!  

The Initiative's mission is to lend local folks money in hard times, right? No, not really. The Initiative is pursuing a much higher calling! Their name says it all...   

✔ Lending Hope Initiative is lending hope to their neighbors in Warren County, North Carolina. 

Lending money is important and necessary, but is little more than a routine, run-of-the-mill financial transaction. Lending hope is a transaction of higher purpose - aimed at the heart, aimed at the soul. An effort to be something more.

"Hope for the best"; "our hopes and dreams"; "to have high hopes"; "a ray of hope"; "to hope against hope"; "our last, best hope"; "hope springs eternal"; "to keep hope alive"... we all need hope.  

✔ Nobody ever hopes to be poor...

Credit unions use to be skilled at both lending and hope, but not so much anymore. Instead our focus seems to be on meaningless "market-share", narcissistic naming rights, and the proliferation of the"me/me/me" merger. All gussied up, with feigned member focus and contrived financial benefits. 😎 Our favorite troll-twits of course don't get it, probably never have, never will: "Not sure what the point of this post is. This is what credit unions do everyday." [Anonymous February 7, 2026]

✅  The point is: Lending hope is no longer "what me/me/me credit unions do everyday". The credit union movement's war on poverty is ending... the "A-paper" has won.

     Why deprive someone of hope?... it might be all they have. 

 

Real People Helping People...

"Ceremony Marks Launch of Lending Hope Initiative... "

 

✅  The Warren Record: February 4, 2026 [link]

Warren County, North Carolina lies below the southern border of Virginia along the Roanoke River. In the 1840's Warren was the wealthiest county in North Carolina, not so much anymore. The Civil War, the advent of the railroads, Jim Crow, and the decline in tobacco and textiles all took their toll. The population is @ 20,000 and declining, median household income is $34,000. Warren County is wooded and rural, civility remains the norm, church-going expected. Folks, for the most part, are personable and caring, families are still tight. It's a nice place to live.

Lending Hope Initiative: "Our mission is to offer small, interest-free loans that assist applicants in managing rent, mortgage payments, utility bills, and deposits." To apply, you must live in Warren County, provide proof of income, and work with volunteers to prepare a budget. The applicant will sign a repayment agreement. "When the money comes back, we will lend to someone else in need." 

✔ What a novel, innovative idea!  Cooperative, community lending to a limited group, sharing a common bond, on a non-profit basis. "I hope a more sustainable model can get going..." [Any ideas?] 

😎 As a credit union, you only become irrelevant, when you're no longer different - just another "industry standard" insignificance, just another unexceptional commodity. A masquerade...

 The original purpose for a credit union may have become lost, the need for credit unions hasn't !